Writing in 2021, it is great to see that I am not the only person taking a retrospective look at Star Trek, the Next Generation. When this series was first released in 1987, a little less than twenty years after the end of the Original Series, many people thought that, without Captain Kirk and his crew, it couldn't really be Star Trek. However, original creator Gene Roddenberry, was fully invested in the casting, writing and overall look of the new series, so let's see how it shaped up:
A really good story which was all but ruined for me by the inability of either the guest actor or his make up artist to successfully convey the central "dying old man takes illicit youth drug" theme. Whether going forward or backward through the years, these types of ageing (or de-ageing) plots are notoriously difficult to get right. There are a few father/son or mother/daughter couples that have managed to carry it off (notably, Brits Timothy & Samuel West) but using one actor to represent all the ages requires some very rare skills.
Whatever his acting talents, Clayton Rohner who played Admiral Jameson and was aged 30 when this episode was filmed has worked continuously in television during the intervening 34 years.
His screen wife, Anne, was played by Hollywood doyenne, Marsha Hunt. This beloved actress was aged 70 when she took this role but continued to appear in TV guest roles up until the age of 90 and is still alive, at 104, as I write today. That beats Olivia de Havilland, doesn't it? Go Girl!
Along with many other actors of the time, Marsha Hunt was blacklisted in 1950 by the House Un-American Activities Committee and later became a dedicated philanthropist. Her long and fascinating life definitely repays a closer look. Just be sure not to confuse her with her namesake, the other Marsha Hunt, former wild child and ex-girlfriend of one of the Rolling Stones.
(Senior Trekker scores every episode with a 5)
A really good story which was all but ruined for me by the inability of either the guest actor or his make up artist to successfully convey the central "dying old man takes illicit youth drug" theme. Whether going forward or backward through the years, these types of ageing (or de-ageing) plots are notoriously difficult to get right. There are a few father/son or mother/daughter couples that have managed to carry it off (notably, Brits Timothy & Samuel West) but using one actor to represent all the ages requires some very rare skills.
Whatever his acting talents, Clayton Rohner who played Admiral Jameson and was aged 30 when this episode was filmed has worked continuously in television during the intervening 34 years.
His screen wife, Anne, was played by Hollywood doyenne, Marsha Hunt. This beloved actress was aged 70 when she took this role but continued to appear in TV guest roles up until the age of 90 and is still alive, at 104, as I write today. That beats Olivia de Havilland, doesn't it? Go Girl!
Along with many other actors of the time, Marsha Hunt was blacklisted in 1950 by the House Un-American Activities Committee and later became a dedicated philanthropist. Her long and fascinating life definitely repays a closer look. Just be sure not to confuse her with her namesake, the other Marsha Hunt, former wild child and ex-girlfriend of one of the Rolling Stones.
(Senior Trekker scores every episode with a 5)